[Video] How caseworkers stay safe in communities with gang activity
WECT-TV
New Hanover County’s Department of Social Services is enhancing safety procedures for caseworkers who respond to homes in several neighborhoods considered known for violence. Caseworkers will not travel to the Creekwood and Houston Moore communities or parts of Fifth Avenue and Sixth Street in Wilmington without a coworker or police escort, according to Wanda Marino, Assistant Director for Social Work.

What Is an Ethical Dilemma?
The New Social Worker Online
Social workers are routinely confronted with ethical dilemmas in practice, and social work programs infuse their courses with professional ethics and values to help students prepare for this eventuality. The Council on Social Work Education (2008) requires that students learn how to “apply social work ethical principles to guide practice, engage in ethical decision making, recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to guide practice, and tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical conflicts” (EPAS 2.1.2).

Ready or not, Taoseños seek health plans
The Taos News
“The websites are the problem right now,” Holy Cross Hospital social worker Denise Frank said Tuesday (Oct. 15). Efforts by hospital staff to assist patients and community members applying for health insurance through the exchange or revamped Medicaid program known as Centennial Care have been foiled by technical glitches, she added.

Legislators focus on safety of WV Child Protective Services workers
Charleston Daily Mail
Although Child Protective Services workers often find themselves in tense, stressful situations, a recent audit found the state Department of Health and Human Resources and its Bureau for Children and Families lacks adequate policies and protections for those workers.

New director hopes to expand role of Maine’s largest mental health group
Portland Press Herald
Jenna Mehnert brings impressive job credentials to her new role as executive director of NAMI Maine, formerly the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Most recently she was executive director of the New England Institute of Addiction Studies. Before that she headed the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, and before that she worked with Pennsylvania Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Agency takes action to protect workers
The Charleston Gazette
State Bureau for Children and Families Commissioner Nancy Exline said the bureau plans to have new statewide worker safety measures in place next month, after a legislative audit released Tuesday determined Child Protective Services field workers are at risk during home visits.

Social work profs, students change lives
Chastleton Spartan
Lillian Jackson is a professor of social work at Castleton State College. After working in the field for 31 years, she took her current position and teaches courses including social welfare policy and social work practice.